Timothy A. Goudge

Flood Volcanism in the Northern High Latitudes of Mercury Revealed by MESSENGER

MESSENGER observations of Mercury’s high northern latitudes reveal a contiguous area of volcanic smooth plains covering more than ~6% of the surface that were emplaced in a flood lava mode, consistent with average crustal compositions broadly similar to terrestrial komatiites. MESSENGER observations from Mercury orbit reveal that a large contiguous expanse of smooth plains covers much of Mercury’s high northern latitudes and occupies more than 6% of the planet’s surface area. These plains are smooth, embay other landforms, are distinct in color, show several flow features, and partially or completely bury impact craters, the sizes of which indicate plains thicknesses of more than 1 kilometer and multiple phases of emplacement. These characteristics, as well as associated features, interpreted to have formed by thermal erosion, indicate emplacement in a flood-basalt style, consistent with x-ray spectrometric data indicating surface compositions intermediate between those of basalts and komatiites. The plains formed after the Caloris impact basin, confirming that volcanism was a globally extensive process in Mercury’s post–heavy bombardment era.

Global inventory and characterization of pyroclastic deposits on Mercury: New insights into pyroclastic activity from MESSENGER orbital data

We present new observations of pyroclastic deposits on the surface of Mercury from data acquired during the orbital phase of the MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry, and Ranging (MESSENGER) mission. The global analysis of pyroclastic deposits brings the total number of such identified features from 40 to 51. Some 90% of pyroclastic deposits are found within impact craters. The locations of most pyroclastic deposits appear to be unrelated to regional smooth plains deposits, except some deposits cluster around the margins of smooth plains, similar to the relation between many lunar pyroclastic deposits and lunar maria. A survey of the degradation state of the impact craters that host pyroclastic deposits suggests that pyroclastic activity occurred on Mercury over a prolonged interval. Measurements of surface reflectance by MESSENGER indicate that the pyroclastic deposits are spectrally distinct from their surrounding terrain, with higher reflectance values, redder (i.e., steeper) spectral slopes, and a downturn at wavelengths shorter than ~400 nm (i.e., in the near-ultraviolet region of the spectrum). Three possible causes for these distinctive characteristics include differences in transition metal content, physical properties (e.g., grain size), or degree of space weathering from average surface material on Mercury. The strength of the near-ultraviolet downturn varies among spectra of pyroclastic deposits and is correlated with reflectance at visible wavelengths. We suggest that this interdeposit variability in reflectance spectra is the result of either variable amounts of mixing of the pyroclastic deposits with underlying material or inherent differences in chemical and physical properties among pyroclastic deposits.

Extension and contraction within volcanically buried impact craters and basins on Mercury

Orbital images of Mercury obtained by the MESSENGER spacecraft have revealed families of troughs, interpreted to be graben, on volcanic plains material that largely or completely buried preexisting craters and basins. The graben are partially to fully encircled by rings of contractional wrinkle ridges localized over the rims of the buried impact features to form systems of associated contractional and extensional landforms. Most of the buried craters and basins with graben identified to date are located in the extensive volcanic plains that cover much of Mercury’s northern high latitudes. The distinctive relationship between wrinkle ridges and graben in buried craters and basins on Mercury is interpreted to be the result of a combination of extensional stresses from cooling and thermal contraction of thick lava flow units and compressional stresses from cooling and contraction of the planet’s interior.

Assessing the mineralogy of the watershed and fan deposits of the Jezero crater paleolake system, Mars

We present results from geomorphic mapping and visible to near-infrared spectral analyses of the Jezero crater paleolake basin and its associated watershed. The goal of this study is to understand the provenance of the sedimentary deposits within this open-basin lake using a source-to-sink approach. Two fan deposits located within the basin have distinct visible to near-infrared mineralogic signatures measured by the Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer for Mars (CRISM). The northern fan is spectrally characterized by a mixture of Mg-rich carbonate and olivine, while the western fan is characterized by Fe/Mg-smectite (e.g., saponite or nontronite) with variable amounts of Mg-rich carbonate and olivine in isolated exposures. The watersheds of these deposits contain a variety of geomorphic units that are likely to have supplied sediment to the Jezero crater paleolake, as the fluvial valleys that fed the basin incise these units. The geomorphic units include exposures of Fe/Mg-smectite-, olivine-, and Mg-rich carbonate-bearing terrain. We show that the difference in fan deposit mineralogy is a function of the areal exposure of the major geomorphic units within their watersheds. This indicates that the spectrally dominant aqueous alteration minerals in the fan deposits are primarily detrital, or transported, in nature and did not form in situ. We conclude that the aqueous alteration of the units in the watershed occurred prior to the fluvial activity that carved the valleys of the Jezero crater paleolake system, and that the two periods of aqueous activity are not genetically related.

Insights into surface runoff on early Mars from paleolake basin morphology and stratigraphy

We present observations on the morphology and stratigraphy of more than 400 paleolake basins on Mars. We show that there are two distinct classes of Martian paleolake basins: (1) paleolakes fed by regionally integrated valley networks (N = 251), and (2) paleolakes fed by isolated inlet valleys not integrated into broader regional drainage systems (N = 174). We conclude that valley network–fed paleolakes primarily formed prior to approximately the Noachian-Hesperian boundary, ca. 3.7 Ga, while isolated inlet valley paleolakes primarily formed later in Martian history. All 174 isolated inlet valley paleolakes are closed-basin lakes; however, there are surprisingly few (31) valley network–fed closed-basin lakes compared to a large number (220) of valley network–fed open-basin lakes. This observation is consistent with declining levels of fluvial activity over time on the Martian surface. Our results imply that during the era of valley network formation, ∼90% of topographic basins breached by an inlet valley had sufficiently high ratios of water influx to losses to fill, overtop, and form an outlet valley. This conclusion provides an important constraint on the balance between surface runoff production and water losses on early Mars that must be satisfied by any model of the early Martian climate and hydrologic cycle.

Evidence from MESSENGER for sulfur‐ and carbon‐driven explosive volcanism on Mercury

Targeted MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry, and Ranging (MESSENGER) X-Ray Spectrometer measurements of Mercury’s largest identified pyroclastic deposit are combined with neutron and reflectance spectroscopy data to constrain the composition of volatiles involved in the eruption that emplaced the pyroclastic material. The deposit, northeast of the Rachmaninoff basin, is depleted in S (relative to Ca and Si) and C, compared with the rest of Mercury’s surface. Spectral reflectance measurements of the deposit indicate relatively high overall reflectance and an oxygen-metal charge transfer (OMCT) absorption band at ultraviolet wavelengths. These results are consistent with oxidation of graphite and sulfides during magma ascent, via reaction with oxides in the magma or assimilated country rock, and the formation of Sand C-bearing volatile species. Consumption of graphite during oxidation could account for the elevated reflectance of the pyroclastic material, and the strength of the OMCT band is consistent with ~0.03–0.1wt% FeO in the deposit.

A 40,000 yr record of clay mineralogy at Lake Towuti, Indonesia: Paleoclimate reconstruction from reflectance spectroscopy and perspectives on paleolakes on Mars

Sediment deposited within lake basins can preserve detailed records of past environmental conditions on planetary surfaces, including both Earth and Mars. Establishing how to best characterize these paleoclimate records is thus critical for understanding the evolution of past planetary climates. Here, we present an ∼40 k.y. lake sediment record from Lake Towuti, Indonesia, developed using visible to near-infrared (VNIR) reflectance spectroscopy. Source sediment from the main river input to Lake Towuti, the Mahalona River, is spectrally dominated by Mg-rich serpentine; however, we also identify a distinct Al-phyllosilicate component, which we interpret as kaolinite, that increases in relative proportion to serpentine with decreasing grain size. Sink sediment from two cores collected at the distal margins of the Mahalona River delta has similar spectral signatures to the input source sediment. The cores capture systematic variations in the proportion of Al-phyllosilicate to serpentine over time, which is also expressed in changes in bulk elemental chemistry of the sediment. We show that the abundance of serpentine relative to Al-phyllosilicate increases dramatically during the globally cooler, regionally drier climate of the Last Glacial Maximum. This change records the grain size−dependent mineralogy of deltaic sediment, which is ultimately driven by forced delta progradation and river incision during lake lowstands. Our analyses show that VNIR reflectance spectroscopy offers a rapid, nondestructive, and effective method for developing paleoenvironmental records from sedimentary phyllosilicate mineralogy. Exposed paleolake deposits on Mars should preserve similar paleoenvironmental information that can be accessed through detailed remote sensing observations of stratigraphy and VNIR reflectance spectroscopy in a source-to-sink framework.

Fluvial stratigraphy of valley fills at Aeolis Dorsa, Mars: Evidence for base-level fluctuations controlled by a downstream water body

Aeolis Dorsa, a large sedimentary basin on Mars, contains an array of fluvially dominated sedimentary deposits. These deposits preserve a record of fluvial erosion and deposition during early Martian history. We present evidence that some of these fluvial deposits represent incised valleys carved and filled during falls and rises in base level, which were likely controlled by changes in water-surface elevation of a large lake or sea. The valley stratigraphy consists of three lowalbedo, channelized corridors, each several tens of kilometers long in the streamwise direction. Deposits composing the basal valley fills are characterized by laterally amalgamated point-bar strata confined between valley walls that preserve scoop-shaped segments cut by the erosive outer banks of meandering river bends. Both the point-bar deposits and valley walls were produced by a neterosional river system. Subsequent valleyfilling deposits are defined by both channels and associated overbank strata. The stacked channel-filling deposits are sinuous in form, but unlike the basal strata, they preserve no evidence of river migration. Within each valley, there are multiple sinuous ridges ranging from a few meters to several tens of meters thick, which we interpret as channel-belt deposits that have been topographically inverted via differential erosion. Evidence for channel avulsions and reoccupations, the overall cutting and filling patterns, and consistent up-section decreases in recorded channel migration support the interpretation of the low-albedo corridors as valley stratigraphy cut and filled in the presence of a migrating backwater zone. Crosscutting valleys require at least two episodes of base-level fall and rise at >50 m per episode. These base-